Women in the new secular movement

A chronological listing of key events

Starting in 2010, the topic of participation of women in the [new secular movement](http://newsecular.wordpress.com/what-is-the-new-secular-movement/) has received an extraordinary amount of attention. There is a range of views on the subject that has resulted in sharp public disagreements.;xNLx;;xNLx;Complicating matters, much of the commentary is often made based on incomplete information and lack of context.;xNLx;;xNLx;Someone new to the topic will probably miss out on many of the key events through no fault of their own, with the subject appearing more unwieldy than it has to be.;xNLx;;xNLx;In order to provide an accessible and meaningful summary of the topic in it's entirety, I have compiled the timeline that follows.;xNLx;;xNLx;Questions/Comments: [http://newsecular.wordpress.com/women](http://newsecular.wordpress.com/women) | [@SimonKnowz](http://www.twitter.com/SimonKnowz);xNLx;;xNLx;The views expressed are [mine alone](http://newsecular.wordpress.com/about-me/)

Blackford "Talibanesque" remark re: codes of conduct

In a public facebook comment, Russell Blackford refers to unspecified conference harassment policies as "Talibanesque".

Grothe apologizes to Watson

In a lenghthy comment on Rebecca Watson'sblog, DJ Grothe apologizes about his comments but maintains that he is still concerned about "misinformation" regarding safety at TAM.

Vacula resigns Pennsylvania SCA position

Following the petition to the Secular Coalition for America by Stephanie Zvan, Justin Vacula resigns his position as co-chair of the the SCA Pennsylvania chapter.

McCreight announces Atheism+

Following a blogging hiatus, Jennifer McCreight proposes a new atheist movement that incorporates social justice and names it "Atheism+" following a suggestion in a comment.

Watson announces she will not attend TAM2012

Rebecca Watson states that due to both the abusive behavior at previous TAM conferences as well as DJ Grothe's comments which blamed "women skeptics for creating a hostile environment".

McCreight ceases blogging due to online harassment and abuse

Jennifer McCreight says she "can no longer write anything without my words getting twisted, misrepresented, and quotemined. I wake up every morning to abusive comments, tweets, and emails about how I’m a slut, prude, ugly, fat, feminazi, retard, bitch, and cunt (just to name a few)."

SlymePit forum launches

Citing updated commenting policies at Scienceblogs, the forum Slymepit.com is launched to host the comment thread at SA "Abbie" Smith's blog re:Watson that was still on-going for the past year with tens of thousands of unmoderated comments in a single thread known as "the slime pit".

Shores article for Ms. Magazine

Monica Shores notes that while prominent women atheists do exist, none are as visible or recognizable as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens and that "there’s little indication that atheists are receptive to the suggestion that they might benefit from diversifying in color or gender"

McCreight re:Shores

In a response published by Ms. Magazine, Jennifer McCreight characterizes Shores' earlier statement that "no women are currently recognized as leaders or even mentioned as a force within the movement,” as "blatantly untrue"

Bekiempis in Bitch Magazine

Victoria Bekiempis asks: "If all these smart, clearly respected women are in the mix of loud-and-proud atheists, why does the face of New Atheism still look like that of a curmudgeonly, sixtysomething white guy?" and offers several statements in response.